Valentine University Review – Dating, Community College Style

Valentine University logo

Valentine University aspires to being the place of ‘higher learning’ online for guys wanting to score girls. It does so by means of a plethora of offerings, akin to taking a series of classes and short courses at some (really basic) community college. This is done primarily by means of video tutorials presented by this university’s dean, Todd.

The emphasis is very much on the psychology of relationships, interactions between guys and girls, and, to a more limited degree, the inner workings of the human mind and what motivates us, excites us, turns us on, and the like. Issues such as evolutionary psychology, sexual and mate selection, social conditioning and the games that we play, both internal and external, are touched upon.

With a course as brimming with material and psych asides as this, it does beg the questions: Is this an online university worth attending? Will a guy come out of it more savvy as to how to date or even just score girls? Many dating courses profess to showing guys how to tap into their ‘inner mojo’ by means of psychological know-how. This Valentine University review will grade its ability in achieving that.

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Valentine University

Summary:

The dean of faculty here, Todd, has a mindset about dating. That is why he keeps referring to the “pickup community” and makes flippant references to “boot camps” in which he has acted as “drill sergeant”. Jesus, imagine going on a dating bootcamp! Who the hell knew it has to be that hard! It’s odd, because he hardly comes across like a drill instructor schiester.

And that’s one of the chief problems with Valentine University. It suffers somewhat from an identity crisis. Todd goes into length and depth about psychological issues such as social conditioning and evolutionary psychology and how to make a budding relationship work, and then makes flippant, throwaway comments about callously ‘fathering’ multiple children and fucking any which way you can.

Valentine University does offer a lot. To its credit, much of what is on offer doesn’t seem gratuitous or just as content stuffing, which is all too prevalent in the dating course world. That’s not to say that the course’s content is always coherent or cogent, because it’s not. But neither is it all rubbish or all bad. However, once again we have a dating course that is in desperate need of editing and a pronounced focus.

A dating course that dared to call itself ‘Valentine University’ was always going to put itself into a corner. It may be a cutesy, catchy name, but it conjures a sense of gravitas and real learning. The overall effect here is middling to slightly above at best. There’s quite a lot of hopscotching about on this varsity campus, but perhaps some half-decent learning can take place.

The Lowdown…

Like a real time university, Valentine University offers a lot – a helluva lot. This is a dating curriculum shoved to the rafters with courses, tutorials and other like learning paraphernalia. It’s a lot to get through, and it needs to be cautioned here that this student only had time to look through some of the offerings. Still, I got a good idea of what was on offer at this University.

Todd is the dean of faculty at this university, with his coiffed hipster look and strangely shark-like eyes. Charismatic is not the word that comes to mind, although he’s not instantly unlikable either. He looks quite regular and not particularly good looking or he-man, but, hey, he reckons he’s a dating guru and a guy who knows how to get girls for a living, so that should be good enough for a lot of guys.

Otto, Dean of this ‘University’

As for any American university or college student, Valentine University starts at 101 – ‘Introduction to 101’ to be exact. This class is presented in no less than 21 video clips, all of them showing Otto at some hotel training venue. You know the type of venue – flipboard, faux-Georgian furniture and fixtures, paintings that are corporate-generic and the trainer walking around in front, speaking and gesticulating endlessly. We’ve all been there.

‘Attraction is Not A Choice’ according to this subject, which he claims is “absolutely a critical fundamental of pick-up (that’s a lot of adjectives going on there, but this is just varsity). He basically asserts the girl has no choice over what attracts her to a guy, and what makes her have “butterflies in her stomach”.

This logic is coupled with theories relating to evolutionary psychology and sexual selection. It’s not as intellectual as it sounds, promise, although he does throw in a short overview of ‘R.A.S’ (Reticular Activation System), i.e. what catches and holds out attention, as well as social conditioning. Yeah, there’s a lot of (Pop) Psych 101 going on with this guy.

In ‘Lover vs Provider’ Otto provides two strategies. The first is that “you must have as many kids as possible…fuck as many women as you want.” “And don’t bother raising the kids necessarily; either hope some other guy comes along to help the woman raise the kid or hope that she raises it alone…or whatever.” He calls this a “viable strategy.” No, I kid you not. Even as a joke it’s…just…off…

Another strategy is to have two or three kids with a woman and then spend time helping out, being committed, etc. This he justifies as part of what he calls “replication of genetic strategies”. This guy actually has the gall to impart this ‘wisdom’ with a straight face. Right there I thought: either this guy has one of the most subversive senses of humour I’ve come across or he’s just a fucking tool.

‘Inner Game’ is the second- longest clip at just over 30 minutes. It’s what Todd hopes will “bring it altogether” for the attendees, and is primarily about three simple words: you are enough. Know your strengths and don’t let the weaknesses get you down if there’s not much you can do about changing something. It’s a decent philosophy. It’s important to convey “ideal man qualities actively and efficiently”. Cool runnings.

‘Outer Game’ is the longest clip at over 45 minutes. It’s basically about being the in-demand alpha male – importantly, it’s about actively showing this to girls, other guys and everyone generally. Conveyance is everything. There are key things to achieving this game, including talking louder and making statements (macho and active) rather than always asking questions (too passive).

Whatever a guy’s looks or other strengths (or weaknesses) Todd insists that a Valentine University student must think and act like a winner. He wants guys to strive to be the “upper one percent” who believe they have it all and project that to the world in what he calls “abundance mentality”. This, along with a person’s positive “state,” is what can make a guy triumph in his ability to score girls.

The issue of ‘Escalation & Calibration’ is a key aspect of this 101 course. Amazingly, it’s assumed that all the attendees already know what these things mean on the dating scene (I’ll be damned if I did!). Note to any trainer (our Toddy included), whatever the course: never, ever assume that learners know what technical or conceptual terms mean. It antagonizes and alienates those who don’t have a clue, dude.

One of the most interesting by-products of these video clips are the comments under each by members. The ‘Escalation & Calibration clip had this effusive comment: “Damn, this was game changing. I was such a little bitch with escalation and was always calibrating not to offend with no escalation!” It’s indeed amazing what gets people excited.

The 101 training concludes with a 5-step guide to ‘escalation,’ namely 1. Open, 2. Hook, 3. Emotional Connection, 4. Physical Connect and 5. Close. As is so often the case with this type of training, girls are there to be easily manipulated and to give the things a guy really wants (basically, to get laid) so long as a guy strictly follows a few easy steps. If only it were that easy, huh?

Todd does take time out to have three Q&A sessions with attendees at this particular videoed training session, including in the concluding clip. I wouldn’t call his answers particularly enlightening, and the guy does need coaching on his stance and mannerisms when taking in questions and replying to them. He is too abrupt and clearly uncomfortable, but at least he gives it a go.

Extras

‘Game 2’ takes it to the next, “intermediate” level. It’s Todd again in the same hotel training room in the same black T and blue jeans he wore throughout 101. 202 is when the guy and the girl are now at the next level (with even one of the clips called ‘Leveling’) and it needs be built upon and consolidated. ‘Time & Energy’ and ‘Time & Physical Escalation’ seemed to excite punters the most in the 202 sessions.

There’s no skimping by Valentine University when it comes to extras and bonus features. The toolbar just beneath the header / logo for this website is replete with icons that show how much is on offer, including Archives, a Glossary and Resources:

Icons Aplenty – Extras and Bonuses at Valentine University

The Topics icon when clicked offers a mind-boggling array of options to take one’s learning further, as can be seen here (and these aren’t even all of them):

Topics with topics – get learning, boys!

‘Emotional Connection’ has no less than 16 different videos of Todd in a variety of different settings (boy, does this guy like to talk), whilst ‘Hot Girls’ has 12 different videos, some of them actually showing Todd trying to pull girls (and succeeding, it seems) at parties and bars. All power to you, bro. On the other hand, ‘Mission Impossible’ comes up blank, which never looks good on any website.

There’s a pretty crowded Forum section, with some diverting threads, whilst the Glossary collection is a bit of a mixed bag: “chode” (the beta male chodes, unlike the alpha male) and “needy” are interestingly defined, but “scarcity” has two different meanings provided (why?) and the definition of “rejection” is a real stunner: “When the girl turns you down”. Really? Who would have thought?!

Pretension does reign supreme in the Glossary too, however, with silly, meaningless acronyms like “PUA (pickup artist)” and “DHV (demonstration of higher value)”. “AFC” means “average frustrated chump” (yawn), whilst “IOI” stands for “indication of interest”. I mean, who the fuck says, “I think that girl checking me out shows an IOI in me”?! Seriously, dude…

The main upsell on Valentine University is for a series of 10 videos known as the ‘Infield Collection’ and which seem to show Todd plying his trade and varsity wisdom in different settings like bars. It could be an interesting bonus offering in loco insights into how Todd himself pulls it off in the dating jungle. However, at $97 that may prove a bit too much extra tuition fees for many of his students.

And how does it look and feel?

Valentine University hardly look like anything special. The home page looks like a better-quality blog, but a blog layout and look it nevertheless has. The leading category banner with icons (as shown above) is eye-catching enough and at least clicking one’s way around the site is easy enough.

It’s also commendable that one doesn’t land up on dubious clickbait sites after clicking on certain links, as too often occurs on dating training sites such as this. Valentine University keeps it mostly clean and above-board. It’s interesting that with a name like it has, not to mention its fratboy leanings, that Valentine University is mostly devoid of the soft porn photos and images so often found on other dating course sites. There’s almost a respectability in that.

The 101 session videos are all dull and show nothing but Todd delivering the same workshop in the same hotel venue with the same clothes, etc. The audience members of the workshop are never shown (strange that) and the camera remains static, i.e. boring. The camera work and visuals provided in the many, many bonuses are nothing special or that professional either.

What’s To Like About Valentine University?

For a guy with enough dedication (and a lot of time on his hands) Valentine University provides a lot of information…make that a fuck load of information. Todd has not skimped with the info and the bonuses and the extras with this training. It could all be considered nothing short of multitudinous. There’s a certain amount of respect for his students / clients / customers when a dating guru does that with his training – it seems the very least they should do , not so?

It’s not just the breadth and scope of the bonuses and extras that are on offer, but the depth of some of the sub-categories. Todd may not be the most intoxicating trainer or orator in the dating world, but at least he tries to give as many different angles to certain issues and concepts as possible. Is all of it excellent and of value? Of that which I saw and reviewed, no, it is not all excellent and valuable. However, the attempts seem sincere and some of it should still appeal to the younger, the inexperienced or the dating newbie.

The site, for the most part, doesn’t look tacky and full of soft porn (and even hard porn) images of semi-naked women in Penthouse poses. Why is that notable? Because this is a site that is college-themed and that offers some distinctly fratboyish theories and concepts, but at least it doesn’t succumb to all the tired (and I mean dead tired) visuals that so many other similar training course sites rely on. It makes Todd and his course come across just that little bit more adult and more authentic. Yes, it’s mostly geared at young guys, but it doesn’t overstate the fact.

What’s Not To Like About Valentine University?

It’s the Dating Course Curse yet again: a dating course with promise that simply doesn’t have a discernible focus and sense of direction. For all the mountains of info and learning, there’s no beginning, middle and conclusion to all this training. Valentine University tries to take a guy on a journey of self-discovery and becoming a true alpha male, but fails to do so because there’s no definitive learning curve. This is training that rambles and throws too much at a guy without being centered and meaningful. There’s no eye on this ball. It was the ability to achieve that sense of one-minded purpose and focus that made a course like Hypnotica’s Men’s Confidence Project (previously reviewed on this site) such a hit and attain an A rating.

Todd is simply not a charismatic guy. It goes without saying that looks shouldn’t be important for a dating guru – after all, that’s so damn subjective anyway. But charisma and being a man’s man is not as subjective, and being an entertaining or engaging trainer is anything but subjective. And Todd is none of these. He’s not offensive or creepy, but his inability to loosen up and really project a guy that girls will instantly lust for is a letdown and somehow undermines what he says and tries to offer. And all of this is much more subtly important than many might think at first.

Valentine University has an identity crisis. It’s not the worst case of identity crisis encountered in the dating course universe, but it has one nevertheless. What is it trying to be? A pulling guide for guys only wanting to get laid? A method to attaining better self-awareness and self-confidence? Or a means to building a relationship with the right girl? Valentine University seems to shoot in all these directions and, in doing so, it loses its identity. Todd veers too easily and flippantly from intellectual trying to help guys finds their inner psyches to being fratbro pulling for chicks to screw. It’s jarring and, more harmful to his overall message, it’s not a convincing gambit.

Conclusion

Valentine University should have been akin to a university – intellectually stringent, demanding application and unyielding in the standards required for competency. Instead, guys taking this training will get a lot of information thrown at them, but its doubtful whether the whole will have the desired effect. There’s no formal structure, a semblance of which would surely have been beneficial for students?

Does this training merit attention? To some extent, yes it does. There’s an inherent sincerity to what Todd offers and some of the concepts are interesting, even if not well executed or contextually sound. But the effect is blunted by a lack of focus and direction. There is no single hook on offer here, and certainly no robust methodology that can be easily applied. The modules come thick but loose, any which way.

It sure isn’t the Ivy League of dating training. It isn’t even akin to a typical university education. Valentine University would have been better called Valentine Community College. That is not to demean community colleges, but the name would have been more apt. On offer here is basic education. Higher learning will be required for those guys wanting training that is more complex and structured.